The present invention relates to a ski equipment support rack and more particularly to a ski equipment support rack for mounting to a wall and for removably and uprightly supporting skis and ski poles.
Ski storage racks for removably and uprightly supporting skis are known in the art. A known rack, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 299,100, comprises a mounting plate for mounting to a wall and a pair of loops of bent rod projecting forward from the mounting plate. The loops are laterally spaced apart to receive an upright ski between them.
The ski equipment support rack of the present invention is an improvement over the ski storage racks of the prior art. A first advantage of this support rack is that a pair of skis are supported with their bottom surfaces in mutual contact with the bindings of the two skis extending outwardly in opposite directions for resting on the support segments of the rack. Thus, the skis are firmly supported without any contact with the bottom surface of the skis, avoiding risk of any damage to those bottom surfaces.
A second advantage of the ski equipment support rack is the safer manner by which it supports skis. The ski equipment support rack has wire segments defining a slot that opens to a side rather than to the front. As a result, if the removably supported skis should shift or fall off the ski rack, the skis would accordingly shift or fall laterally rather than forwardly, thereby minimizing the risk of injury.
In addition, this ski equipment support rack comprises a fixed frame of relatively inexpensive metal wire elements welded together and coated in enamel. The individual wire elements are bent into configurations that provide gains in manufacturing simplicity and efficiency. The ski equipment support rack is the strong, yet inexpensive to fabricate. The ski equipment rack is also lightweight, which further results in reduced shipping costs. These and more advantages are provided by the present invention without sacrificing appearance or durability.
In accordance with the present invention, a ski equipment support rack is made of bent metal wire elements held together in relative positions by welded joints. The ski equipment support rack has parallel wire segments that define a slot that opens laterally rather than forwardly. Two skis to be supported are oriented with their bottom surfaces in mutual contact and their bindings projecting outwardly. The parallel wire segments on either side of the slot underlie the opposed bindings to removably support the skis.
In addition, the ski equipment support rack has wire retainer segments above the support segments to restrict the forward rotation of the skis about the support wires. Still further, the ski equipment support rack has other wire segments which define slots for removably receiving ski poles.
For making this ski equipment support rack of smaller gauge wire than otherwise possible, long segments of wires are supported by other wires. Because the supporting wires are anchored and are inclined, the long segments of wires are well supported and can be of reduced gauge wire.
For supporting two pairs of skis, both the forward and the rearward ski-supporting wires have mirror opposite left and right segments. Each resulting left and right slot can removably receive two generally upright skis that have mutually adjacent bottom sides. The parallel wires on the forward and rearward sides of either the left or right slot support the skis by their bindings.
For manufacturing efficiency and simplicity, the left and right rearward two segments of wire for supporting the ski bindings are part of a single bent wire. For the same purposes, the left and right forward two segments of wire for supporting the ski bindings are part of another single bent wire. All welds are in a common plane.